Linne Family Mincemeat Pie Filling

Mincemeat is a rare treat that not so many people know about.  Possibly because less people cook and we're in America.  The impression I have is that this is a British tradition.  The spice, fruit and meat combination is ancient, going back to the Crusades.  Returning Crusaders brought the experiences of Middle Eastern cooking and this influenced British cooking.

This recipe is an amalgam of several.  Years of tweaking this recipe have brought me to this, which is my favorite.  This pie has unmistakable character.  Somewhere between sweet and savory, meaty and fruity, it's a Holiday treat that is definitely surprising.

I think a mincemeat pie ought to have actual meat. Any store bought version and many recipes (including Alton Brown) out there do not make this with meat, though they call for suet.  I have yet to try the recipe with suet as it's hard to find and likely expensive were I to go to a butcher.  Bacon grease does just fine.

Mincemeat is one of those fillings that's heavily preserved between sugar and alcohol and benefits from storing and aging.  I make mine at the beginning of October and it's great by Christmas.  Though you could make it earlier in the year and keep it longer.

I prefer to make my own mixed peel.  It's not terribly hard, but it's time consuming and a pain in the butt to do on the same day.  If you want to make mixed peel, do it on a different day.  Store bought will work too.

This is amazing served with sour cream, though whipped cream is nice too.

Ingredients

Meat:

2-3 lb lean beef (I like it meaty)
8 oz bacon grease

Liquids:

liquid from cooking the beef
1 c. apple cider
3/4 c. molasses
3/4 c. honey

Fruits:

2 lb. granny smith apples
8 oz. raisins
4 oz cherries
4 oz figs
8 oz prunes
6 oz currants
8 oz candied mixed peel, minced

3 oranges, juiced and zested
3 lemons, juiced and zested

Spices:

4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp grated nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 1/2 tsp ground clove
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp mace
1/2 tsp cardamon
1/2 tsp salt
pinch saffron, optional

Alcohol:

1 c. red wine
1 c. brandy

Preparation (Reserve an afternoon for this recipe)

Get out a large slow-cooker and start it heating.

Simmer the beef in the bacon grease.
While the meat is simmering, chop the fruit.  Larger fruits like cherries, prunes and figs need to be chopped.  Dried cherries should at least be chopped in half.  I slice the figs & prunes into 1/4 inch strips and then cross cut them into chunks.  The apples get cored and cubed into 1 cm chunks.  Don't bother peeling them, the peel contributes pectin to the recipe.  Add all the fruit to the slow cooker.

When the beef is done cooking, cube it into 1 cm chunks and add it to the slow cooker.  Add the remaining bacon grease and the spices, the citrus zests & juices, and the mixed peel.  Add the honey and molasses.

I like to reduce the red wine over a simmering heat.  This takes awhile, but we're in no hurry.  Set a low fire under a small saucepan and add the wine to it.  Let it simmer for ~15 to 20 min until reduced by half.  Add to the pot.

Let the mixture stew for several hours, or overnight on a low heat setting.

When it's done after 4-6 hours, or overnight, add the brandy and mix well.  It's ready for jarring.

Pumpkin Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Icing

These are great gingerbread cookies.  We made them for Halloween, hoping for pumpkin-pie flavored gingerbread.  It didn't quite work out that way.  I think that there wasn't enough pumpkin perhaps.  It just tasted like good gingerbread.  The cream cheese frosting is great.

This might be tweaked to taste more like pumpkin pie.

Cookies Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree {pure pumpkin~ not pumpkin pie filling}
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ginger
3/4 tsp. cloves
3/4 tsp. nutmeg

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick of butter softened
1 package of cream cheese softened
5 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions
Cookies
In your mixer, combine butter, sugar, and molasses. Add your pumpkin puree and mix well. Add egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine all of the rest of the dry ingredients. Slowly mix your dry ingredients into your butter mixture until combined.
Wrap in wax or parchment paper and throw in the refrigerator for at least 3 or 4 hours until it firms up. I leave mine in over night.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly flour your work surface and split your dough into thirds. Lightly pat the top of one section of dough with flour and roll out until it is about 1/4″ thick.
Cut into desired shapes and place on a greased cookie sheet.
Cook for 6 to 7 minutes at 375 degrees. Mine were perfect at exactly 7 minutes. Let cool completely.
Pipe your favorite icing onto each of your cookies into desired design.
Cream Cheese Frosting

Whip together butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in your mixer until well combined. Add powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy. It may take a minute for all of the ingredients to combine. It might look too dry to begin with, but it will mix together and turn out perfectly.

Liver, Avocado and Cashew Salad

Ingredients:
350 grams beef liver (sliced, 4 slices)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 c, arugula
2 c. mixed greens
1 c. red onion (very thin slices)
1 large avocado (ripe, diced)
150 grams roasted, salted cashews

1 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. paprika

1/2 c. dry sherry

cooking fat (butter, bacon fat, peanut oil, etc)

Method:
Marinate the liver in the balsamic vinegar overnight.

The next day, mix together the flour and spices.  The liver, if bought in slices are likely large and should be cut up into manageable pieces.  Coat each liver slice in the flour mix, then fry in a skillet in the oil for 1 minute on each side.  Don't overcook the liver. 

Once that's all cooked, slice each liver piece up into bite-sized pieces. 

For a sauce, pour the remainder of the marinade into the saucepan and add 1 tbsp of flour and 1 tbsp of butter.  Make a roux by gradually adding water and 1/2 c. of dry sherry.  The sauce should be fairly loose and pourable. 

Toss together the salad pieces; arugula, greens, avocado, cashews.  Bring to boil a small pot of water and blanch the onions for 1 minute.  Add the onions, liver, drizzle with the sauce and toss.

Pear and Cream Cheese Tart

This is light, fruity and wonderful.  I tried making it with apples and it didn't come quite as nice.  I think its because 60 minutes wasn't enough to cook the apples all the way through.  Pears and apples have different densities.  If doing apples, I'd turn the over down to 325°F or 300°F and cook for 90 minutes

Crust:
1 cups (130 g) all purpose flour
1 small egg
1/2 tsp. salt (skip if using salted butter)
1 tsp. sugar (for sweet recipes, otherwise skip)
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup (~60 ml) sour cream (full fat, NOT light sour cream)

Filling:
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sour cream
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp orange juice

3 ripe pears, cored, sliced thin

orange marmalade or apricot jam

Method:
Oven @ 350 F.  Make the crust first.  It doesn't need pre-baking and works fine baking all at once.  Put all the ingredients for the crust into a bowl and mix with a pastry blender until you have a firm, doughy consistency.  You can chill for 20 minutes, but its not really necessary.  Roll out and press into either a 10 inch spring-form cake pan or a equal sized tart pan.  If you use smaller than 10 inches, you'll get a thicker crust.

Whip the cream cheese until smooth with an electric mixer first, then blend in the sour cream, while sifting in the flour.  Once that's smooth, add the eggs, sugar, vanilla and orange juice.  The batter should be pourable but not extremely loose.

Pour the batter onto the unbaked crust.  Carefully layer all of the pears onto the crust.  Use them all.  Make multiple layers if necessary and overlap heavily.

Melt the jam/marmalade in the microwave and brush over the pears.

Bake the pastry in the over at 350°F for 60 minutes.

Sour Cream Pie & Pastry Crust

Prep time: 20 minutes; Dough chilling time: 1 hour

Yield: Makes dough for 2 single crusts, or 1 double crust

This recipe makes enough dough for a top and bottom crust for a 9-inch pie.

The dough ratio is 1 cup flour: 1 stick butter: 1/4 cup sour cream: 1/2 teaspoon salt: 1 teaspoon sugar. These are the amounts for a single-crust 9-inch pie.

If you are making a 10-inch pie, use 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces, 1  1/4 cup) butter, 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp sour cream for a double crust, or 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/4 sticks (5 ounces) butter, 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp sour cream for a single crust.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups (260 g) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of salt (skip if using salted butter)

2 teaspoons of sugar (for sweet recipes, otherwise skip)

2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup, 8 ounces, 225 g) cubed

1/2 cup (115 ml) sour cream (full fat, NOT light sour cream)

METHOD

Soften butter, cut into cubes.  Whisk together flour, salt, sugar. In a large bowl.

With a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour until it resembles a coarse meal with some chunks of butter. Add sour cream to the flour-butter mixture and blend with pastry blender. 

Gather the pastry dough together into a large ball. Use a knife to cut the ball in half. Form into two disks.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes before forming into a pie crust.

 

When it's time to bake, remove dough from fridge, let sit for a few minutes, then roll out.  

You can use this pastry dough for unstructured rustic pies or galettes, or single or double crusted traditional pies. It can also be used for a savory pot pie.

Whether you use the dough for a galette or a double crust pie, it will be prettier with a light egg wash. Just whisk one egg in a small bowl, add a teaspoon of water, and brush lightly over the exposed crust with a pastry brush, right before baking.

 

This pie crust recipe is difficult to pre-bake. There is more fat in it than a regular crust, which can cause the sides to slump if you bake it without a filling. That said, I have successfully pre-baked this crust by freezing it for at least 30 minutes first, lining it with heavy foil, filling it 3/4 of the way with dry beans, then baking it at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Creamy Corn Chowder

1 1/2 lb stewing beef, cut into chunks.  Sirloin or round is good for this.
1 large onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 large red potatoes, peeled, diced
5 ears of corn, kernels cut off (should be 4+ c. of kernels)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
6 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cup half-and-half
1/2 c. sour cream

Sweet Corn Fritters

3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. corn flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tsp sugar
3 ears fresh corn, kernels cut from cob
1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
1/4 c. buttermilk
pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Maple Whipped Cream
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp powdered sugar
1/4 tsp mapleine (artificial maple)

corn or peanut oil for shallow frying
2 tablespoons cane syrup, or as desired (optional)

Whisk both flours, the baking powder, sugar, salt & pepper into a bowl with the corn kernels.  Whisk the egg yolks, cream, and buttermilk until smooth.  Beat the whites with cream of tartar until stiff and fluffy.  Mix the liquid yolk mixture into the corn kernels.  Fold in the whipped egg whites until the batter is light and loose.

Pan-fry the fritters with enough oil to cover the surface.  Cook until golden brown on each side.  Drain on a paper towel

These are great with maple whipped cream!